The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1887-04-21
T,le Coercion Bill.

Asthe contest nov going on III The Brit SD
Parliament over the government Coercion
hin interests the whole civilized world, and /
must become historical, we give teiow an /
interesting and connected statement OF Its |
uroqress foand in the Lancaster Pa IN
ouirsr aud prepared by Mr.. /. S. Clark, OF |
that place, who seems to have kept seru-
tjnizing watch on the proceedings Of Par
lament on the question:
new Coercion Aet-the eighty-seventh
within the last eghty-seYen years-is now en-.
gazing the attention of a British Ministry anu
a British Parliament. ,a.o4.
Ireland intimated in the House OF commons
that he would Introduce another Goercloh Din
far Irelend IN the Right Hon. William Henry
Smith First Lord of the treasury, gave no1ice
that he would move thattie bill have We, rr zee,
dance overall orders of the Day ME-; 9ona MOI
lev at once gave notice that he would move an
amendment against urgency OF me t plii, Ine
~ on, hat Iawlessness prevailed in Ire
land that lnries were inundated, anu tnht no
1orious criminals went scot free. Mi. Morley
,noved the rejection for urgency. maintaining
that Ireland Tad never been more oraea a3 ~, a
lively discussion of several Gays ensuea, MI
s,nifh and Mr. Bsfour defending the new Coer-
cion bill and Mr.. Gladstone making q teiiiis
speech against il, maintattIhg e eht rents The
only crime WIS opposition 10 rack Ieitsi uiie
Irish members were highly deiighl ea Win "a tn,s
great speech of the Grand Old Man On niaTe
2tn ,o f, Nm nreercy was rejected by decisive
vote in The House Of Commons, ana the iao'ioh
fss urgency was carried.
on he nisht of March o. the Right Hon. VIII
liam II. nry Smith. the Ministerial leaaef, 1ntl-
tslry had decided to ask the House TO pass the
second rcatllng-of The Coei cion bill before me
Easter holidays. Ireands fees thus advanced
and bitter words fell from the lips OF lhe Isfy
leaders in their speeches defending me new
Iris criminal Law Amendment Bin MI.
ralfo ,r Tie Chief Secretary for Ireland. in NOV
ilgth first reading of the bill, dwelt upon the
lac. mat Irish iuIies had refused to convict
criminals on tie Gle arest evidence. and that
therefore tise jury system in ireland had become
impracticable. lie accused me IRISH sat IONA
League OF relying upon secret societles, ny iiitr
mite and the dagger to bring about q state OF
anarchy by means OF ASSASSINATION. lie Safe
Mr.. Iiaifonr. in defining the proposals of tn
new Coercion bill. sta. ed that 70 meet the dlill-
Guilty of getting versiicts the Government pro-
posed to abolish the jury system altogether Ter
certain classes of crimes, giving MAGISTRATES
jurisdiction, empowering thein 10 impose a
maximum penalty of 81 x months Imprisonment
in cases al criminal conspiracy, boycottlng,
Plotting, offences under the Will1eboy Acts, as
saut OF, officers of the law, forcible and unlaw-
lui possession and in cases ofincielnent OF the
foregoing offences. The bin aso gives ne COY.
ernn,ent 20 yer to change the venue Of trial for
grayer offences, such as murder, attempted
sInnrder, aggravated crimes OF violence ano ar,
son Ihsinss the person thus accused IN Ireland
to England for trial. on the ground that no fair
trial could be had in Ireland, where, IL was was
most conclusive evidence Mr. Baifonr con
GUIDED lis speech by declaring that il was In the
maine liberty that the Ministry asked Parlla-
1nent Il, Pass the q ercion bill, to break the yoke
under which Ireland was grooming.
Mr. Dillon danCu lced the tyfannlcal pfoVls-
sons of the hill in unmeasured terms aad hlnie q
at ebellion and blocdshed. On the following
day Mr. Gladstone made another Vigorous
spt ech against The despotic measure. denoune-
lug the abolition OF jury trials ana changes o.
Venue in unlneasured terms, cha racterizing the
bill as most astounding measure, and making
strong plea for justice TO ireland
Michael Davili, at a Nationel eague meeting
in Dublin. said litat under previous Tory Gov
ernmeuts despois had been made 10 ieei, wheh
they tried 10 crush liberty that they themselves
United Ireland said when Mr.. Bali ,ur shall
have had experience in the resa.ts of coerc ion
le will find plank bed n mnch more tolefaoie
than the bed Of The CAiei secretary lol
ircsni."
In a great speech u pom tbe bill on pril l. Mr.
Parnell predicted d reign of judicial murder j
the measure became law Mr.. Glads! one urged
an adjourn ment of debate, but the Ministry
enfol ced eotufe. bus 2g2lng he 10 nofity, aho
the first reading Of the bin was agreed TO with
out division. Mr.. ParDeil. speech Oh Tins oc-
casion was one of the best that he had evei
made and was unusually fiery perora;ion
The Opposition in Parliament considered thai
Balfours was puiverized by the speech.
The moving Of the second reading of The Co
ercion bin in the House of Commons April
., by Mr.. Balfuur. ChieE5ecretary OF Ireland, pre-
cipitated another lively discussion. Sir Charles
Russell an Irish Home Ruler, stated that sta
tistics proved chat ireland was iFeer from CT me
than any other country in F,urope. In the event
OF the passage of the Coercion ELL, Il number Of
English Radical members OF Parliament prom
fsed to join the PaGneites ard go TO Ireland td
defy the act a large mass meeting was held IN
London to protest against the passage OF Inc
measure.
This new Coercion bin. should 1t become
law seems probable, Will meet the iaif
of all previous irish Coercion Acts. 1t will fal
coerce. Should the Tory Ministry be defeat
ed they will appeal 10 the country, and it viii
then be for the English masses decide
whether Or not they Will sustain apolicy abol
fishing jury trials for certain crimes and chang
sng venue for others. both OF which are strokes
against the principles of constitutions liberty
SO highly cherished by lie Anglo-saXon race.